What Have I Been Doing Lately?

Some of my readers have been wondering why I have not been posting. One thought his computer was acting up and not recieving my blog. Another wondered if I had gone back to work(horrible thought!).

The truth is that I have not done much that I thought was news worthy and at the same time, I have been busy enough to not feel like taking the time to write. So here loyal fans are some of what I have done in the last month.

In early November I went to the Auto Show in Seattle at the Qwest Event Center. I have never been to an auto show before. But this was fun. All the manufacturers had bright, fancy displays set up and lots of lights. And many of the car manufacturers had someone (guy in a suit or a female model) expounding on the attributes of the car on display. I walked by the GMC area and there was a guy in a suit giving his speech on a stage about the new Tahoe, and there was not a soul listening.

I was impressed by the amount of cars there. I set in a few. The really expensive cars(Lamborgini, Rolls, Bentleys, etc) you could not even get close to. Oh well, I am not in the market for a new car anyway. And of course, after the show there was time for lunch at Ivars before the ferry ride home.

A week after the Auto Show, I returned to Seattle for the Pacific Marine Expo also at the Qwest Event Center. This a show that is equipment and services for the workboat and commercial fishing industry. My folks get a free invite because they were commercial fisherman, so I went in there place. Next year I may get my own free invitation by subscribing to a free magazine.

Since I always liked working on ships and main propulsion and auxiliary equipment, I enjoyed looking at the equipment and talking to the reps. Some stuff like the marine electronic and diesel engines are still applicable to what I use on my boats. I was impressed with how some of the electronics have progressed. Both Furuno and Simrad offer some new and innovative components. Diesel engines have come a long way too with trying to meet pollution requirements and improve economy. I picked up lots of brochures and lots of FREE stuff !

I spent more time at this expo than I do at the boat show in January. And of course, I stopped at Ivars on the way to the ferry for fish and chips again.

And now we are up to Thanksgiving Day. I had Thanksgiving with my parents. There was just the three of us. Then on Friday, my sister and brother in law came over from Wenatchee for the night. So out comes the Thankgiving leftovers and we have Thanksgiving dinner all over again. Friday was a beautiful day here. I rode the motorcycle on errands and was real close to riding to Port Townsend. I was part way there, but I had forgot to bring my camera, so I went home instead.

I rode the bicycle for a couple of hours on Sunday and again today.

That should bring everyone up to date. There have also been lots of days of performing small work items on the house and boat, so there is a lot more going on than whet I have told you here.

Next on the agenda is the Winter Vashon race on Saturday. This race starts and finishes at Tacoma. I will take the boat down on Friday and will return either Saturday night if it is not too late or Sunday morning. Should cover about 80-90nm this weekend. I don't use the boat every weekend like some people claim they do, but I sure do put on lots of miles. Just about every race I do requires a two hour or more delivery both going to and coming home in addition to the race.